Erato
by lejardine
Summary: Alan Rickman becomes Friends with Erato Alexander and they become friends. But he finds he constantly has to defend her as she is the butt of everyone's jokes. This all changes one night.


Erato Alexander had come from a day of shooting. She'd gone around Florence taking pictures on her day off on her own. She'd loved photography as her first love and even though she was an actress she would never give it up. But she was exhausted now and wanted nothing more than to curl up in bed. And so she did just that. She'd had dinner while out and didn't talk to anyone on her way in to the lofty villa. She was excited for the next day; some of her fellow actors and Erato would be going on a kind of day trip.

The next day came and her alarm went off. She got out of bed and showered and slipped on her underwear and a pair of blue jean shorts and a white t-shirt. Grabbing her bag she made it downstairs to find Alan Rickman sitting at the bottom of the stairs.

"Good morning she said to him." He looked up at her and smiled a sad smile. "What's wrong?"

"They already left."

"Why?"

"They were playing a practical joke on you. They thought it funny to tell you the wrong time so that they would leave you here. When I realized that was what was done I decided to stay."

"Oh." She mumbled as her shoulders slumped. She seemed to be the butt of everyone's jokes, except Alan of course. She turned and returned to her room and gently closed the door. She did not like this. It felt like high school all over again. First they switched her room around, then they took her things and hid them around the house, then they took all of her clothes and left the strewn in and around the villa.

Alan did not like the treatment she got either. Many a time he tried to stop them, to stand up for her but none of them cared. They were all young and cared only for themselves and their entertainment. Alan watched her walk upstairs then stood up and prepared breakfast. It would be scrambled eggs and bacon. He made this primarily for Erato she had simple tastes when it came to most things. But he decided to lace the eggs with fresh oregano and pepper to give it some extra taste. When he was done he walked up to her room to find her hunched over her desk drawing with headphones in. gently he placed his hand on her shoulder and she jumped and sidled away as if he were about to hit her.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you, but I made breakfast." Erato nodded her head and took the headphones off and followed Alan downstairs and to the back deck that overlooked the sea. They sat and ate in comfortable silence. There have been many times that the two have interacted with each other and the others but they were mainly comfortable with each other. It was to the point that Erato didn't speak to her fellow actors unless she was filming. There were many times Alan just wanted to take Erato someplace and keep her from the world, but that was impossible and a bit on the creeperish side of things.

When Breakfast was done they washed the dishes and cleaned up. Alan sat outside and read at the table. Erato not necessarily wanting to be alone in her room at the moment grabbed her pencils, eraser and sketchbook and sat down at the table as well with her headphones on and began drawing. Alan smiled to himself but said nothing.

A few hours later the other actors returned and it was dinnertime. Alan saw this as problematic and made an immediate call.

"Erato, would you like to go out for dinner?" he whispered towards her. Erato said nothing but nodded yes. Alan could see the light colored hairs standing on end against her brown skin. He could see the anger in her hazel eyes. So Erato brought her things to her room and grabbed her phone and some money and put them in her pocket with some chapstick. She locked her room (just in case) and met Alan outside. They walked instead of taking the car. It was a nice clear warm night for a stroll to a nearby restaurant they both liked.

Reaching they sat at a table over looking the sea and ordered two glasses of red wine. They sat, ate, drank, and talked for two hours before they finally got up and left. Neither wanted to return just yet so they walked down to the now deserted beach and sat on the sand staring out in to the water. Erato sat close to Alan, close enough that she rested her head on his shoulder. The fruity smell of her hair relaxed Alan. It wasn't till around midnight that the arrived back at the villa.

"Goodnight Alan." She said as she unlocked her door.

"Goodnight." He responded. Alan waited till she was in her room and the door shut to go in to his.

The next morning Alan and Erato were filming their scenes together. It would be five scenes that day meaning it would go from early morning to late at night. They of course would stop for breaks especially since a few of the scenes were emotionally charged scenes between their two characters. Once filming was done, which was around eleven at night they left the set and were driven home. The others were in the living room quietly watching TV, not acknowledging Alan and Erato's arrival. Erato made a beeline for her room, her bed was calling her. The first thing she noticed was that her door was unlocked, so she was wary. The next was the smell upon opening the door, and after was the large dog that sprinted out of the room.

Erato's room smelled of feces and urine from the dog. Her laptop was in pieces, her camera as well. Her drawing implements were scattered on the floor and her sketchbook had been torn to shreds and pissed on. Her sheets were shredded; the curtains pulled down and shit everywhere. Erato was now irate. There would be no holding back tonight. No just accepting what's happened and fixing what was wrong. Alan who was behind her was livid as well but he was so drawn in to the destruction of the room that he could not react in time to Erato turning out of her room and running downstairs.

Without a word or so much of a sound she grabbed Michael by the hair and pulled him out of his seat and proceeded to punch and kick him. It was his dog after all. Everyone else stood and stared in fear. Erato had finally cracked and in the worse way. Michael fought back and was able to get away from her.

"You thought that was funny!" she yelled angrily. "You thought putting your mutt in my room was a fucking joke?" Erato picked up the dinning room chair and tossed it at Michael. Not caring what damage was done. Alan came around the corner behind Erato when he saw the chair miss Michael by inches. Michael ran outback and she followed. She easily over took him and tackled him to the ground. At once she gave him a volley of punches to the head and torso. There were no more words said but then her hands were locked around his neck and Alan stepped in. He didn't want her to kill him, just teach him a lesson. Quickly Alan ran over to her and wrapped his arms around her.

"Erato Stop!" he yelled over and over until he was able to pull her away. They lay on the ground a few feet away, Erato in his arms breathing hard. After a while Michael got up and was able to stand up. He looked down and found Erato crying with her face buried in the grass and Alan holding her close. Michael didn't say a word but hobbled back in to the house and to the nearest bathroom.

It was another hour before Alan and Erato went back in to the house. The others had cleaned up the mess from Erato's rage and were now cleaning up her room in silence. Alan guided Erato to his room and let her lay on his bed. He closed the door and walked out of the room to check on things, and to quietly berate them and to make sure Michael wasn't in need of a hospital. He returned a few minutes later and found Erato curled up on the bed facing him. Gently he closed the door and locked it and climbed on the bed beside her and lay down facing her.

"Are you okay?" he whispered.

"No." she answered as she burst in to tears again. Alan gathered her in his arms and let her cry in to his chest. These tears were angry frustrated tears and they needed to be let out. When she had cried herself out Alan kissed her forehead. When she looked at him he kissed her nose as he wiped away her tears. Erato kept his hand on her face and leaned in to his touch. He was warm were she now felt cold and was shivering. Alan kissed her nose again and pulled her closer. Softly he kissed her lips. Erato immediately responded to his kiss just as gently. Then he deepened the kiss and she wrapped her arms around his neck, their bodies pressed against each other. They continued to kiss until they needed air. Alan gave her Eskimo kisses as they took caught their breaths. She could feel her body warming up and honestly was not surprised by Alan's actions. For a while she had wanted this but had convinced herself that it would never happen.

Alan did not want to make love to her that night but to comfort her. Sex would come later when she wanted it. Right now he wanted her calm and happy and loving. The angry frustrated Erato scared him. The Erato that picked up the chair and tossed it at another person frightened him. The Erato that was so hell bent on killing another with her bare hands terrified him. He didn't want to see that again. But he kind of expected it. It's usually the quiet ones with the biggest and most dangerous displays of anger.

That night they lay there in each others arms kissing until they fell asleep. From that point on the pranks had stopped and the others gave Erato a wide berth. Alan and Erato, upon completion of the movie remained together, frequently seen in public together happy.


End file.
